3-E Final Report 2005

          We are Mrs. Ehrhardt’s third grade enrichment students.  We are located in Lafayette, New Jersey.  We compared our square with a square in Louisiana. 

          First we compared living things.  The only thing we had in common were that we both found ants.  They found many more insects.  They found beetles, flying bugs, spiders and worms.  We think they found more insects than us because they were in the middle of spring when they surveyed their square and we were at the end of our winter.  Their weather was much warmer.

          Next, we compared plants.  We both found a tree, a bush, and some weeds.  They found grass, but we found fungus (lichen and moss).  They did not find any fungus because fungus grows best in the shade and their square was in the sun.  Our square was in a wooded area with a lot of shade.  They found grass because their square was in a garden area.  They probably had an orange, tulip and pear tree because the school planted them.  We found an Eastern Red Cedar.  These trees are quick growing and usually are some of the first trees to grow back when farmland is no longer farmed.

          Finally we compared the non-living things.  We both found rocks, small rocks and dirt.  They found metal and paper but we didn’t.  They probably found these things because their square was in front of the school where people might hang out.  There might have been a trash can next to their square that was knocked over.  They found a crayon because the square is near their school and someone was probably coloring near their square.

          Our favorite part of this project was:

Cori- I liked comparing the two squares. 

Conor- I liked going outside to pick our square, measuring it, and marking it. 

Kevin- I liked when we got to draw our square and when we dug up part of it looking for insects.